12 Holt Steele Back at the Game
by SteeleHere44
Summary: Story 12 Mr. Steele and Laura surviving a family gathering.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was early in the morning and Laura was already on a roll, "I told you this wasn't a good idea."

Mr. Steele closed the trunk, and the whole limo bounced with the hard slap. The suitcases were resting inside, which meant fortunately that one of the battles was already finished. They rounded the back of the car, and he opened the door for her. Instead of getting inside she stood standing there; her arms folded, her left foot tapping the floor and her eyes piercing his face.

"I couldn't get out of it, Laura. You know how it works. Once one of the Holt women starts to speak, a wise man stays calm and remains quiet. That's exactly what I did. I listened to the Holt woman, and politely agreed to her suggestions."

She disentangled her arms and turned her hands into fists, "You politely agreed to her suggestions... what a gentleman!" The mock in her voice was more than notorious. "May I remind you, I'm the Holt woman you should try to agree with, your wife. Not my mother."

He gave her a sided glance, "I agree."

"Not now!"

"Okay, I don't."

"Are you trying to be funny? Because you are not."

"I agree?"

She began to move, "This is nonsense. Get into the car." They both sat in the back of the limo; a respectable space remaining between them. Looking straight to the driver, Laura decided to finish the useless exchange, "To the airport Fred."

The trip was in silence, but Laura's head was anything but quiet. The fact that Abigail invited both her daughters and their families to spend a long weekend at Lake Tahoe was at least inopportune. They were really busy at the office, still working over an unusual amount of cases after an unusually occupied February. But of course, her mother didn't give her a chance for the negative response allowing her to use work as an excuse. In fact, she even didn't try to listen to Laura`s explanations; Abigail purposely avoided the sinuous talk with her daughter calling Mr. Steele by her back and politely convinced him to step into the plan. And he gave up easily, without even asking Laura; his wife.

"I shouldn't have let Frances did that Christmas thing with you. Now my mother and sister are aware that you are the less difficult strategy to get their way against my own wishes." She didn't look at him even for a second. The dull view of Los Angeles traffic was more appealing at the moment.

"At least we are flying there, Laura. Just imagine a car trip, listening Abigail talking the whole way from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe."

Laura didn't respond. The thought about Abigail talking through a long car trip didn't sound nearly dramatic compared to the desperate situation. Of course, Abigail would be talking through the whole ride, but the most irritating thing was that she will also be questioning her and making motherly suggestions about every one of Laura's usual actions not only along the entire trip but through the whole long weekend. And she was already tired on advance.

The first class flight to Sacramento and its welcomed amenities helped to soften her temper a little. Once they arrived at the Rental at the airport to pick up their car, she even allowed him to be the one behind the wheel for a change. She'd be the guide this time. It would give her more time to cool off enjoying the sightseeing until their arrival at the family gathering. The map was opened resting on her lap when she tried to break the last minute's silence with a distracting comment, "Frances and Donald must be there already. They left Tarzana yesterday in the late afternoon after Donald's workday, taking advantage of the children's tiredness. She was convinced the kids will behave in the car. I really don't want to be in her shoes, you know. It's a long way from LA."

"I agree."

She turned her body towards him with intent, "Are you going to agree with me the whole weekend, Mr. Steele? Because if you are; I will reconsider my dialogue lines to break your resistance getting concealed answers from you. And I don't need to remind you that the situation would turn from safe to dangerous in a blink."

After considering her words for an instant he shook his head, "I don't agree."

"You don't agree…" She was getting tired of his game. "Argh…" Noticing the conversation wasn't taking them anywhere she inhaled and exhaled and decided to drop the subject. She neatly folded the map, and after considering that being upset with each other wasn't going to take them anywhere, she laid a hand on his thigh adding a different touch to the moment. "Turn to the right at the next exit. The cabins are three miles away," she tried a fake smile at him, "Welcome to Lake Tahoe, Mr. Steele."

Just at the very moment they made the second turn, their destination was in sight. They both noticed at the same time that there wasn't any cabin involved, but an undoubtedly impressive house. It was a three-floor state with a spectacular stone and wood front, surrounded by beautiful threes splashing different fresh green touches to the landscape. A second noticeable thing was that Laura's nephews were eagerly running from the hills behind the house straight towards the car and an agitated Frances eagerly following them suit. That was the less impressive part of the view for Laura.

"This wasn't what I pictured when Mother invited us to spend a weekend in a cabin near Lake Tahoe. I was expecting at least more than a corridor between us." She found her voice weakening as a result of a mix of surprise, fear, and angriness.

Mr. Steele sensed Laura's uncertain mood suddenly contagious under the circumstances, but tried to keep the spirit up even realizing it was meant to be a hard task, "Remember Laura; it's just a weekend. No one died after spending a weekend with the family. Just three days and voila, the challenge is over and we'll be back in LA. It should be a piece of cake."

"Why do I feel already indigested if I didn't have a bite of the delectable temptation yet, Mr. Steele." She got off the car, breathed deep and muttered herself, "Icy calm, Laura, icy calm."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mr. Steele looked at Laura with joy, noticing she was sharing happy embraces with every member of her family, instead of remaining in her previous lousy mood. Although Laurie Beth was notoriously partial to share the embracing part only with him, the little girl did give Laura a lovely hug this time before start claiming for his hand to take him as fast as possible to the several places she'd discovered through the morning.

Laura glanced up catching a full view of the house and told Frances, "I thought there were going to be cabins..."

"I guess mother didn't give us a detailed explanation about the whole place. But don't get impressed just by the outside view, Laura." Frances caught Laura from her arms, "Just wait to see the inside!" Frances finished her words rubbing her hands in front of her chest in total ecstasy.

"I can't wait!" She added in a complete fake amusing gesture. "Is she here already?"

"Yes, she arrived on Thursday. She wanted to be here in advance to take care of all the details. She is totally out of herself with joy, Laura. She told me she has everything planned. It will be a thrilling weekend, all of us together like old times!"

Laura took her bag from the trunk and decided to make the first step towards the house, "It will be a thrilling experience, Frances. I have no doubt of that."

The suitcase was lying opened on the bed, and Laura was moving incessantly like a tornado inside the room.

"I told you it wasn't going to be a good idea, but no… you had to do it your way. Now we are in front of a whole weekend, Friday night included, to be hanging in Mother's hands like puppets. And we will not have even an inch of privacy with her room just across the hall. You have no idea…"

"Come on, Laura. It can't be so bad! The place is beautiful; your sister is here with her family…"

"Just wait and see." Laura was taking her clothes out of the bag and folding them inside the drawers, when she suddenly turned towards him, now speaking in a menacing tone. "I assure you, Mr. Steele, you will not get out of this one unpunished. You'll have a hard time, as well as I will. I'm going to take care personally of that part."

"Literally?"

"Literally; and don't get any hope I'll be changing my mind. It's a decision taken."

"Cold shower all weekend?"

She pointed to the door on the left, "The bathroom is right there. Suit yourself, dear…"

Once lunch was almost over, Abigail decided to launch to the family her brilliant plan for the weekend, which included several activities outdoors as trekking, fishing and evenings having fun at a campfire. 'The kids will never forget this weekend,' she assured to all of them beaming. The grown-up will never forget it as well mother, thought Laura.

They collected their coats after cleaning the table and started with Abigail's first scheduled activity. They would go trekking to enjoy firsthand the natural landscapes. At the front of the state, they met a strong man who introduced himself as Robert Trousseau, the property owner. His dog was waiting there for them beside him.

Danny walked towards the animal, "Nice dog! What's his name?"

"It's Harley," answered the man smiling. "It's a kind dog. He likes people."

Laura could barely wait to pet him. She kneeled and called the animal. The dog came along swinging his tail with happiness and received a dose of pats on his back. Mr. Steele looked at them sideways and decided to ignore the endearment picture. Dog's weren't his strength for sure. They always seem to choose to lift its hind legs in front of him in nature's call mode instead of giving him its front paw in a friendly way.

Robert was quite handsome in spite of his age and had a special spark in his blue eyes, a fact that Laura found familiarly amusing. Once they started the tour, Abigail followed the man's explanations of the wild environment with indubitable interest. Laura noticed the kids were enjoying the man explanations as well; Laurie Beth and Mindy were walking only a step behind Robert hand in hand, and Danny was right beside him asking questions like a serious grown up. Harley, Robert's German shepherd; seemed to be trained to walk right beside his owner's leg. Frances and Donald commented on some of Robert's words with Abigail who was looking notoriously happy.

After around half an hour of walking, they arrived at the lake. The view was absolutely stunning. Under the bright sky, the sparkling blue lake stretched out wide, just a few minutes' walk from the back lawn of the house. Tall trees surrounded the perimeter as far as she could see. Late afternoon rays of sunlight played along the surface of the water, making the still scenery entirely haunting. An old wooden pier added a warm touch to the breathtaking natural landscape.

Laura inhaled deeply. Maybe the weekend wasn't going to be as bad as she thought after all. Just when she was beginning to relax, a slight doubt assaulted her once she glared to her husband, who seemed to be more interested in her than in the beautiful view, or even in the cool ranger`s speech.

"Why aren't you paying attention to Robert and enjoying the view?" she asked him in a whisper.

"Who says I'm not?"

"Your visual focus is not where it must be. Aren't you going to behave like an adult for once?"

"Well, Laura; I thought you got settled that we can't always agree about adult behaviors…"

Mr. Steele was suddenly interrupted by Abigail's voice, who decided it was time to go on with the explanations about the following activities for the rest of the day. They were going to have hot dogs for dinner and marshmallows with melted chocolate optional for dessert; camp style. And while men would have to look for brunch and twigs to put up the fire in a particular location near the lake, women were in charge of bringing the food ingredients from the house, a task that appreciating the menu; didn't seem stressful at all.

After enjoying a good camp style dinner, everybody remained around the bonfire sharing tender moments until the flames almost burned off. Robert turned out to be a great storyteller, which made the children follow his words with a delightful interest, as well as the adults. It had been a beautiful day, and they'd had plenty of fun and good times. Even Laura did, she noticed, despise Mr. Steele's childish behaviors.

Everybody was sitting on the ground side by side around the bonfire; Laura's back resting on Mr. Steele's chest, his arm draped around her holding her close, her head resting on his shoulder. She was entirely entranced watching the flames, the surrounding voices feeling like a back sound when she realized Abigail was in silence since some minutes ago. She raised her eyes from the fire and found her mother staring at her endearingly. Proud and love all drawn in her face. They shared a smile, saving that particular moment in their inner souls.

The evening went on lightened with laughs following lots of Holt sister's childhood anecdotes; an unexpected knowledge that genuinely amused Frances' kids. Once the fire was over, everybody said their goodbyes and retired to their rooms.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Laura slowly returned from her dozed haze. She ventured the hour looking at the window and noticed the moonlight was still lighting the dark room. It was still night. She remained still for a brief moment; just to be sure she hadn't been dreaming. And then, right on cue, the soft knocking came out again. She disentangled herself, first from her husband's limbs and then from the messed sheets surrounding them, being careful not to wake him; and groggily walked to the door. She had barely opened it when her sister's fast hand caught her arm and dragged her outside the room, gently closing the door right behind her.

"What is it, Frances? It's past midnight, what`s wrong?" Laura whispered.

Frances grabbed the chocolate bar in her hands in a firm grip. "Mother is not alone in her room." She made an effort to remain calm, almost losing it. "There is a man in there," she added nodding to Laura.

"What? Are you sure? How do you know?" Surprisingly Laura was totally awake in less than a blink.

"I wasn't able to get asleep, so I decided to have a snack. After my chocolate affair a few years ago, Donald is always looking at me with that odd look when I happen to open a bar of chocolate in front of him, and I try not to do it anymore lately. I decided to go to Mother's room instead this time. We used to share chocolate and a good talk that way at night after the children were already sleeping when she visited us in Connecticut. I decided to give it a try like old times tonight. So I grabbed the bar from my bag in the dark, walked to her room quietly, and just when I was going to knock on her door, I heard voices coming from inside. She was talking with a man. I suspect Robert. They were speaking low, but I heard them, Laura. I decided to back out. She might not be in the most respectable situation, you know?"

"So, instead of going to find whom voices were those, you decided to came to my room, wake me up and send me to find it all by myself…"

"Don't be ridiculous, Laura. I'm not going to send you alone. We are going to find it together."

"That's smart because although that I'm the detective in the family, Mother's personal night's activities are definitely off limits to me."

"Come on." Frances grabbed Laura's hand and pulled her on the way to Abigail's room.

But Laura took off Frances' hand from her arm and stopped. "Stop, Frances. Wait! I need to put something on. I'm not having a discussion with my mother and that supposed man in her room wearing a shirt barely."

"I didn't notice you weren't dressed in the dark, little sister. Where is your nightgown, Laura? I'm aware you two are re just married but -don't you know that you might keep yourself decently covered when you are sharing a house with children?"

Laura sighed with resignation. She wasn't having this conversation with Frances, she thought. "First, I didn't know we were supposed to be sharing a house; Mother spoke about cabins, plural. Second, he took my pajamas off from my suitcase on the sly. I didn't notice until I was going to change tonight and looked for them. I'm wearing one of his shirts."

"He took your pajamas out of your bag? I'm surprised, Laura. Didn't you have a list of your packing to go through until closing the suitcase?"

"Look Frances; he develops a sort of evil side sometimes. He does that sort of things just to annoy me. And he is definitely not fond about seeing me wearing my old pajamas, especially the ones I've planned to bring here."

Frances romantic brain side kicked on then, "Oh, Laura, I got it! It's so romantic… I'd love Donald doing something like that."

"I'm not sure you would. What if the kids need you through the night?"

Frances looked at her in the dark and gave her the most reasonable answer, "I'd send him to check on them, Laura. He is the father, after all. Shared duty, you know?"

"So, you would not be ashamed to send Donald to check something about the children because you're not accurately dressed; but you are ashamed to knock on mother's door because she could be the one in this situation; and you're decidedly not ashamed to knock on my door to ask me, the newlywed, to help you? Frances…" Suddenly, Laura felt she was running out of patience with her sister imminently. And if Frances suspicions were right, she was going to need a huge dose of it to go through the night. She rolled her eyes, "Just give me a moment to put on my jeans, Frances..."

Frances waited for Laura in the hall, and once she was ready, they walked to their mother's room and stopped in front of the door. Laura gave Frances a last brief look and knocked.

"Who is it?" answered Abigail in a very alert voice although it was past midnight.

"Mother, are you awake?" asked Laura looking again to Frances.

"Laura? Come in, dear." Abigail opened the door without the slightest sign of being uncomfortable about anything wearing a very nice robe,. "Frances, Laura… what are you doing still out of bed? It's well past midnight! Come in!"

They got into their mother's room and once there, realizing Abigail was utterly alone after all, Frances decided to begin a sort of conversation to break the suddenly uncomfortable silence. "Well Mother, I wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon, so I decided to go for Laura and come here to visit with you and share a bar of chocolate, like old times."

"Oh dear, that's so nice! I'm glad you thought about that. I was missing our late chocolate chats…"

They remained there talking animatingly for some time until Laura decided she'd had enough high-speed conversation for that hour of the night, even if it was relieved with a necessary amount of chocolate; and they both returned to their rooms.

But Frances wasn't really convinced and told her, "I heard them, Laura. There was a man inside her room. Just think, didn't you realize how awfully awake she was right in the middle of the night?"

Laura stopped in front of her room's door, "Frances, look. People her age don't go to sleep early. She might have been reading or doing crosswords, I don't know. Just drop it, for God's sake."

"Okay, I'm dropping it. But I really didn't notice any book or crosswords magazine on her nightstand." She turned and walked to her room.

Laura opened her bedroom's door and got inside. Right after taking off her jeans, she cautiously hopped into bed again. But although she didn't want even to insinuate herself that Frances could be right; her mind seemed to be running a wild race after her sister last words, not allowing her to fall asleep until almost an hour later. And was right at that moment when she felt Mr. Steele's skillful hands softly working to retrieve his beloved shirt from her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The morning arrived with a schedule chart hanging on the kitchen's wall. Laura and Mr. Steele took their places at the full breakfast table after checking it; Frances beside her sister.

Right after Laura started to place the napkin on her lap, Frances whispered in her ear, "You look tired, Laura."

Laura wasn't going to let this conversation going along, "I had an unexpected meeting to attend at midnight; which interrupted my rest. That's all. I'll be okay after having some coffee. Drop it, Frances." But then, curiosity kicked on, "What's that schedule mother put on the wall?"

"Good morning Laura," said Abigail, "Had a nice rest?"

"Sure. I'm ready to hop into our schedule right after breakfast, mother. I like the competition you arranged for today, Boys vs. Girls. It's going to be a blast, right Mindy?"

"Sure, Auntie Laura. We are going win!"

"Sure, sweetheart. We will."

Mr. Steele, who was slightly disappointed to be spending the rest of the day far from Laura, finally asked about the schedule details.

"You might be asking yourselves why we did need you having breakfast so early," said Abigail.

"Well, maybe Robert can illustrate better."

Robert started the explanation then, "We are having a fishing competition at the lake. Everybody is going to be on a boat, and the team getting more trout for dinner in the afternoon, is the winner. There are enough fishing pods in the boats. Are you up to give a try to ride the boat, ladies?"

"You don't know how far the bold Holt spirit can go, Robert," answered Abigail.

"I certainly do," whispered Mr. Steele.

"It's cool we are going to be out of the house all day. I don't like to be in that room," said Danny. He then complained about his bedroom entirely invaded by Barbies and Barbies' stuff, including a rope hanging the entire doll's wardrobe stepping by over his bed.

There was an excellent fishing boat waiting for them at the pier. Everybody came on board, and once the children had their life vest on, Robert got behind the wheel and drove the boat to the fishing destination. He let Mindy and Danny drive from time to time. This time, they were supposed to fish for the sport of it. Once they collected the correct amount of fish needed for dinner, every other hooked trout was going to get free of the hook and returned into the water. It was as simple as catch and release. Although Danny got the fishing rhythm in a blink; Mindy seemed appalled watching at those poor animals wriggling in desperation willing to be released. Laurie Beth decided she wasn't going to touch the jumping trout, but she stood a step behind her sister encouraging her to go on with enthusiasm.

The grown-up female part of the expedition decided the fishing part was far from enjoyable, so they sat down on the deck to take advantage of the sunny day. The competition was forgotten entirely. While the kids were excited about the whole experience, the adults` didn't last. They enjoyed a few beers and some sandwiches, and everybody spent a beautiful time. They returned to the shore in the late afternoon after an impressive ride appreciating a different side of the lake.

Once they arrived at the pier, everybody returned back to the house claiming total exhaustion. But although Mr. Steele was in sync with that feeling, he had a different idea bouncing in his mind. Since they had spent the whole day beside Laura's relatives, and dinner will follow in the same way, he invited her for a walk along the shore. They took off their shoes and enjoyed a beautiful stroll, finally sitting side by side back at the dock, their legs touching as they dangled over the edge of the wooden pier. Their bare toes were playing with the water, which was nicely warm in spite of the early season.

Was then when Laura decided it was a good time to share her last night detour with him. "You know, I didn`t want to wake you up, but Frances came looking for me in the middle of the night. She suspected Mother was with Robert in her room."

He didn't say a word. He'd noticed her leaving the bed last night but was waiting for her to talk about it. He was aware that if Laura was bringing up the subject in such a peaceful moment, it was because it was bothering her.

"We did go to her room, but there wasn't anybody there but her. We talked for some time and then got back to our rooms. I didn't believe Frances could be right until I got back to our room and thought about something she said." She raised her eyes to him, "It was past two am and mother was totally awake, not a book or a crossword or other distraction in sight for a sleepless night. I'm suspecting Frances was right and there is a slight chance she wasn't alone."

"Hmm. Do you think she was with him?" He asked her feigning surprise.

"Well, if Frances eavesdrop was accurate, it was a male voice she heard. And as I guess both you and Donald are not the kind of man to be sneaking into my mother's room in the middle of the night; that leaves us just with Robert."

"It doesn't sound unreasonable. This is his property; they seem to be friends. They are two grown up getting along very well. I don't see why that is bothering you, Laura."

"I suppose you are right. Mother could welcome some fun. She probably deserves it. And Robert seems to be a nice man." She followed playing with his toes in the water for a while and then turned to him and smiled, "I'm enjoying this weekend after all. You were right. I was wrong not giving it a chance, Mr. Steele."

"I'm glad because I'm enjoying it too. And after the stressed start, I was wondering if you were going to be right, and we would end up being held here as your family prisoners." He put his arm on her shoulder and pulled her to him.

"There is a slight possibility that I overreacted a little. Thank you for ignoring my odd behavior." She put her hand on his waist and kissed him on the cheek. "But don't let my attitude encourage you to expect a lot of this in the future. It's just a momentarily slip."

He turned his face toward hers, his eyes willing for more. "A momentarily slip, eh?" They were sitting at the pier in front of an amazing sunset, and they were alone. It was a plus he wasn't eager to waste, "What do you think if I told you I'm feeling like a weak gentleman just about to have a momentarily slip, Laura?" There were just inches between their faces.

"You know equality has always been one of my mottos, Mr. Steele. Would you care to elaborate?"

He decided to stop wasting time with words and take into the invitation sliding his hand through the back of her nape, his mouth descending right on hers.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Laura couldn't believe they were really going to have some rest after the active day and previous sleepless night. Even if they were in better terms after the friendly chat they shared at the pier, they hit the mattress and fell asleep almost instantly without wasting a minute in any kind of discussion or burning activity. But the moment of bliss did not last long.

After blinking a couple of times, Laura focused her ears on the soft noise that woke her again, for the second night in a row. Suddenly she hoped it wasn`t Frances. She adjusted her listening and noticed that someone was snoring. As there were only two people in the room, one of them already awake; the guilty one must be the one still deeply asleep right beside her. She grabbed his left arm, and softly shook it, "Turn around; you are snoring."

Automatically, he turned himself to his right side without saying a word. Laura laid her face on the pillow again and closed her eyes satisfied, ready to go back to sleep. But right after she did that, the snoring was on, still in full swing. This time she waited before moving and noticed that the annoying sound wasn't coming out from the silhouette lying beside her. She turned on the nightstand light, and looking above him she found the snoring source. Harley, Robert's old dog, was sleeping on the floor, right beside Mr. Steele's side of the bed. She turned her eyes to the door and realized it was barely open. The dog had slipped inside without them noticing it. She thought about getting the animal out of the room, but at the same moment, she found herself wondering if it would result in a practical action after all. Harley was undoubtedly used to roam freely through the whole house without even a warning from his owner. So, if she decided to carry him out of the room, he would stay out of their door making any kind of awful sounds to be allowed back inside; waking up the rest of the visitors. Besides, knowing how fond of dogs Mr. Steele was, the thought of Harley looking for a place beside him to spend the night sounded at least amusing. She decided to ignore the snoring and put her pillow over her head tried to go back to sleep.

Sunday arrived with another sunny day. It was their last day there, and the last chance to find about Abigail mysterious night visitor before going back to LA. Frances hadn't brought up the topic again, but as Laura knew her sister well, she was sure Frances wasn't able to drop the subject easily from her mind, and she was probably waiting for the right moment to have a chat with Abigail.

Although Laura wasn't as bothered as her older sister about her mother's possibly hidden love life, she was genuinely intrigued because she noticed for the first time, Abigail wasn't criticizing or complaining about anything at all, and that indeed was a new aspect of her personality. Welcomed but intriguing after all.

Everyone was settled to play a family baseball game in the morning. Laura laughed in her insides when Robert chose Mr. Steele to be part of his team, supposing women were the worst sports players there. He wasn't aware that Frances had been the captain of her school baseball female team, and Laura had her own good experience as well. It turned out to be again, the old team scheme; Women vs. Men. Despise he seemed to be a modern man; Robert was still old-fashioned in his own way. They played for a significant part of the morning, and once lunch was over and the men were talking in the gallery, Laura found the perfect moment to have a talk with Abigail when they were in the kitchen doing the dishes.

"Thank you for inviting us, Mother. It has been a nice weekend," Laura said as an opening.

"You are welcome, dear. I was willing to spend some time with all of you again." Abigail left the dish towel on the counter and looked to her daughters. "I need to talk to you. Come here." She asked them to follow her and sit down.

It was the first time she was seriously introducing someone to her daughters as a serious partner, and a breeze of uncertainty about their following reactions was getting over her. She had dated some after her divorce more than a decade ago, but the loneliness was feeling more appalling lately after Frances and the kids moved to Tarzana. And Robert seemed to be a good option to escape from it.

Although her married life surprisingly had turned out to be not so good, she'd discovered recently that she'd undoubtedly longed through all that period for something that was missing. Too much time had passed until she found what it was, once she found Robert again. They'd met again sometime before, and she'd have never guessed the flame was going to be still intact between them more than 30 years later, but it was. They had had a good time together back then, and they were enjoying their time together in the present. And it was time to tell her daughters about it.

They found their seats at the family room, Laura and Frances sharing an accomplice silent look. Abigail began her speech.

"As you should know, I didn't date anyone seriously since my divorce. I was totally devastated the first years after to think about starting a new chapter in my life. After some time I fell into a comfortable routine and didn't think about making any changes. I kept myself in that path for too long, I have to confess. Last year I found Robert after more than 30 years without seeing each other. We met again at a bridge tournament, and after realizing we still have a lot in common, we decided to give us a second chance."

"A second chance?" asked Frances, "I didn't know there'd been a first," she added shocked.

"I met Robert when I was very young, and my rebel side was still afloat. I felt totally for him and his free spirit, against to my parent wishes. But at some stage of our relationship I began to feel unsure about Robert, and if he would be the correct one in the future I was planning for me. He was such a free spirit, very romantic, always riding his bike traveling through different states… I loved him very much, but my parents didn't approve, and slowly their insistence made me doubt about my love for him and most of all, what could lie ahead in my future while attached to someone like him. Steeped in doubts, I decided to bury Robert in the past along with all his free spirit. We decided to follow separate paths, and sometime later I met your father. I was really in love with your father at the beginning and found in him all the security I was looking for but Robert didn't offer. We spent a great time together while it lasted. But we grew older in different directions. I guess nobody expects that when marrying, but sadly it's very usual."

Laura and Frances were totally stunned after her mother's revelation.

"Even if I see my breaking with Robert probably as a mistake, sometimes facts happen because they are meant to be. I loved your father, as I told you; and decided to marry him because of that. And I'm totally grateful for that decision; you are and will be the most important gift in my life. I'll always be grateful to your father for giving me the two of you."

"But then, you found Robert again…" said Laura.

"Yes, then we met again. You know, when you love someone, there's always another chance. We are taking things slowly for the moment, but we are spending a good time together. Perhaps getting older has softened our wild hearts a little," she laughed.

"I'm glad you found him again," said Frances. "He seems to be a good man."

"Me too," said Laura. "I'm so glad for you."

"Yes, he is a very fine man." She raised her eyes to her daughters, "And let me say this, please. I'm glad you both have found excellent men to love too. It's always hard to be parents and accept your children had grown up and made their own decisions, mostly when they are not the ones you're expecting. My parents certainly played it wrong back then, for example. But we always want the best for our kids." She put her hands on each of her daughter's arms and gave them a gentle squeeze. "The wise thing for us, parents, is to let your children decide what the happy life for them is, and then being glad when they figure it out. It's not easy, believe me. I'm still learning. You've been a rough example, Laura dear. But I'm still figuring out. And remember, happiness is a choice that has to be made fresh every day."

They returned to the gallery after sharing a caring embrace. Abigail stood behind Robert's chair and put her hand on his shoulder. He laid his hand over hers and raised his eyes adoringly at her, knowing without even saying a word that she had already cleared the situation with the girls.


	6. Chapter 6

Epilogue

Mr. Steele closed the rental car trunk, the suitcases already inside. Frances and Donald had left some time ago; and Abigail, Robert and Harley were standing beside the car, ready to say their goodbyes.

"Thank you, Robert, for inviting us. We spent a wonderful time," said Laura.

She hugged Abigail and then did the same with Robert. Mr. Steele shook the man's hand and fondly greeted Abigail as well. They walked to the car, and he opened the door for her. Right on cue, Harley trotted up and decided that getting inside of the vehicle was suddenly an appealing idea. He sat down on the back seat waiting for the ride to start. Everybody laughed. Well, everybody but Mr. Steele.

"I guess he finds leaving Robert's side for a car ride it's a suddenly interesting idea," said Mr. Steele. "I'm not sure it'd be. Dogs are not usually friendly to me. They tend to pick on my wardrobe violently," he said in a stern voice while giving a sideways glare to Laura, who was wholly amused with the dog's attitude.

"I'm not sure the car ride is what he is fond of. He slept beside you last night."

"He slept beside me last night? And I thought it was you the one snoring, Laura… "

"What?" She was certainly bemused.

"Come on boy, get out of the car," he unsuccessfully asked the dog from the driver's door.

Finally, noticing the animal was convinced to ignore Mr. Steele orders, Robert took pity on him and opening the other back door gave Harley the order, and he jumped back out of the car instantly. "He used to ride my bike with me. We haven't gone for a ride in a long time. Perhaps we'd work to spoil him a little tomorrow," he looked to Abigail, "Are you up for a bike ride with these two old guys?"

"Are you going to carry the dog for a bike ride?" asked Laura.

"Well, my Harley is in the garage, and even if I didn't use the sidecar for a while, I guess I can have it assembled in a moment." He looked to Laura's mother, "Will you come for a bike ride to town with us like old times, Abigail?"

"I'd love to, Robert," Abigail answered with a new spark lighting her eyes.

Who would have guessed it...That's where Laura's free spirit was coming from after all; though Mr. Steele. He climbed into the car, and smiled to Laura, "You know, Laura; I've just discovered where the remarkable bold Holt's charm comes from. I've had never imagined Abigail as a Harley girl."

"Believe me Mr. Steele, neither have I. Neither have I."


End file.
